Gifts I Love

Years ago when we first moved to our house in Beaufort, a friend named Byron Boyer stopped by with a house-warming gift. Opening the trunk of his car, he whipped out this vintage oriental rug and insisted we take it. We love it. It lays on the dining room floor where we can view it every day.

Byron is a merchant seaman who sails all over the world. He stops by Beaufort to visit family and then is gone again. He has excellent taste in gifts. Two years ago he brought me this beautiful red silk scarf from India. Look how the light shines through it!

Last week Byron was through again and unhappily I missed him. On the porch were two more gifts (from Singapore) with a card. I've hardly taken off the silk purple and gold scarf--it's wonderful for wrapping my neck to keep warm.

And then there's the long rayon stripes scarf, almost a shawl in length, that serendipitously goes with my old Indian style sweater. The sweater was a gift from my sister Mary Frances who totally understands that if it's soft and colorful, I'll like it. In the hand-me-down progression I was person #3. The sweater was well broken-in...perfect. If I had the bucks, I'd hire someone to wear shoes and jeans till they were just right, whatever that is. I prefer the "new" totally knocked out of clothes.

Last and never least: my orange leather gloves, another gift from Mary Frances. Three years old now, they are getting a bit battered. Monday I stopped by the credit union to do some banking and inadvertently left the gloves. Panic! When I called, the woman said, "No problem--we've got them in Lost-n-Found." Yesterday I retrieved the gloves. As she handed them to me, she said, "Oooh, these are so soft...like butter-" Gratefully I took them and replied, "Yes, but the best thing's the inside--they're lined with cashmere." I could see she was envious.

Thank you Byron and Mary Frances for giving me beautiful gifts--I cherish them.